THE FILMMAKER’S SOCIAL REALISM WAS ALWAYS SUSPICIOUS OF ESTABLISHED POWER ~ Bleart Thaçi ~ Hungarian filmmaker Béla Tarr died on 6 January at the age of 70, after a long illness. His body of work stands among the most severe and distinctive in late twentieth century European cinema, ranging from the early social dramas Family Nest, The Outsider, The Prefab People, Almanac of Fall and Damnation to the later landmark films Sátántangó, Werckmeister Harmonies and The Turin Horse. Discussion of Tarr has often centred on style and form, on duration, repetition or bleakness, yet his films were shaped just as much by a political outlook formed early and articulated consistently throughout his life. Tarr described himself, without hesitation, as an anarchist. In interviews late in life, Tarr spoke openly about his political formation during his final years of high school. He said that he identified with the far left, recalling that he no longer carried a school-bag, since Mao’s Little Red Book in his pocket was enough. He described himself as a committed communist until around the age of sixteen. What followed was a break rather than a conversion. He came to believe that the leaders he had been taught to admire were false communists, concerned with authority and control rather than emancipation. From that point, he distanced himself from communism as it was practised and presented to him. This suspicion of established power remained a constant. Tarr did not move towards liberalism, nor did he align himself with nationalist opposition. His comments suggest a settled distrust of political systems that claim moral authority while reproducing hierarchy. In later public appearances, he spoke sharply about the historical record of communism, at one point remarking that he had never seen a good communist. His political views were shaped as much by circumstance as by ideology, and when plans to study philosophy fell through he went to work at the Óbuda shipyards. Living and working among industrial labourers informed what he later called his social cinema. His earliest films emerged from the Budapest School and the Béla Balázs Studio, an experimental and semi-underground environment that favoured small budgets, amateur equipment and non professional actors. These films focused on housing shortages, unstable employment, the pressure of economic conditions on personal relationships or the wear of poverty on everyday relations. Tarr spoke of being close to working class people and of wanting to record daily life as it was, rather than impose symbolic narratives. Frame from Satantango He often explained that his turn to filmmaking came from frustration with cinema itself. Films, he said, were full of false stories that bore little resemblance to lived experience. Making films became a way of showing conditions as they were, without embellishment or instruction. This approach extended to his working methods. He avoided professional polish, relied on non actors, and resisted narrative forms that dictated meaning from above. These choices reflected a broader opposition to authority rather than an attempt to promote a fixed political programme. As his career developed, Tarr became more outspoken about contemporary politics. He was an atheist and a consistent critic of nationalism. In a 2016 interview, he described Donald Trump, Viktor Orbán and Marine Le Pen as national shames, framing his criticism in explicitly moral terms. His denunciation of nationalism was especially pointed in the Hungarian context (under the aforementioned prime minister), where he became an outspoken critic of the state’s handling of migration and asylum. During the European migration crisis, Tarr wrote a statement that was displayed near a pro-migration exhibition in front of the Hungarian Parliament. “We have brought the planet to the brink of catastrophe with our greediness and our unlimited ignorance… Now, we are confronted with the victims of our acts.” In it, he argued that Europe had helped bring about global catastrophe through greed, ignorance and wars waged for exploitation. He then asked what kind of morality was being defended when fences were built to keep out people displaced by those same actions. In his final years, Tarr continued to speak out publicly, even as his health declined. In December 2023, he was among a group of filmmakers who signed an open letter (alongside Pedro Costa, Aki Kaurismäki, Claire Denis, Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Christian Petzold, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Jia Zhangke, etc.) calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, an end to the killing of civilians, the establishment of humanitarian corridors, and the release of Israeli hostages. To remember Béla Tarr is to remember a filmmaker for whom politics was neither decorative nor secondary. His anarchism was not a posture but an orientation that shaped how he lived, how he worked and how he spoke. It remains present in his films as a cinema that refuses obedience, legitimacy, or consolation in the face of power. The post Béla Tarr (1955-2026) appeared first on Freedom News.

FAR FROM BEING A TRAGEDY, THE DEMISE OF THE FILM INDUSTRY SHOULD BE CELEBRATED ~ Andrew J. Boyer ~ Netflix has proposed an $82.7bn (£62bn) deal to purchase Warner Bros, a movie studio with over 100 years of cinema history under its belt. Paramount+ has joined in on the bidding in hopes to gain further media assets, as the two streaming services fight over dominance. The proposed deals would dramatically reshape the Hollywood industry towards streaming and will likely have a detrimental effect on local cinemas. This has understandably induced anxiety amongst cinephiles and casual movie-goers alike as they fear the ‘death of cinema’ is upon us. But is it really so bad? First, let’s ascertain that Hollywood has faced many ‘threats’, from sexual abuse scandals to writers strikes, to CGI replacing practical effects etc.. All of these issues stem from the same cause: the capitalist system. While A.I. is certainly a new threat on the horizon, Hollywood’s grotesque commodification of filmmaking has been decades long. Preference for speedy overblown franchises, name recognition, and nostalgia-mongering have been issues since at least the late ‘70s when modern ‘blockbusters’ emerged. Most will recall news of Ian Mcellan’s tearful breakdown on the set of The Hobbit. After having to recite most of his lines to green screen, he lamented “This is not why I became an actor”. Art has taken a back seat to commercialism in tinsel town for a while now. A further point against cinema whilst it’s knocking on death’s door, is the sheer amount of financial and environmental waste that goes into major motion pictures. Benedict Cumberbatch commented on this in his interview with Ruth Rogers earlier in the year, stating: “It’s a grossly wasteful industry. Think about set builds that aren’t recycled, think about transport, think about food, think about housing, but also light and energy. The amount of wattage you need to create daylight and consistent light in a studio environment. It’s a lot of energy.” Plenty of energy indeed. In 2021 the Sustainable Production Alliance reported that the average feature film has a carbon footprint of 3,370 metric tons. Understandably, Hollywood actors are often the subject of scorn for their hypocrisy on preaching climate responsibility to working people. But the most damning nail in the coffin of all: most blockbuster films these days are boring. There’s a genuine sense of ennui with the film industry that has plagued it since the turn of the century. Let’s not kid ourselves that this can be fixed with unions, laws, contract negotiations or (god forbid) more franchise reboots. The movie industry has been more about stifling art than producing it, yet many people can’t imagine films without it. To this effect, Hollywood can be considered what Ivan Illich called a “radical monopoly”. In his 1973 book ‘Tools for Conviviality’ he wrote: “Above all, by depriving people of the ability to satisfy personal needs in a personal manner, radical monopoly creates radical scarcity of personal–as opposed to institutional-service.” Of course, one could argue that the institutional aspect of cinemas is its appeal. Being handed your ticket and walking into a dark room with a large screen and surround sound is what separates the experience from simply watching a film in your living room. This, however, would overlook a very grassroots solution which anarchists and cooperative communitarians have championed for years: independent community cinema. Independent grassroots cinemas are often smaller, cozier and the seating is typically sofas pulled together, or perhaps tables and chairs facing a projector screen. A stellar example of one would be Star and Shadow Cinema in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne. Whilst being run by volunteers, the cinema also works as a community kitchen and concert space, but most importantly: it screens films. From classics, to modern, and even local indie productions, grassroots cinemas provide essentially the opposite, more social experience to streaming isolated at home. Furthermore, as A.I. begins to infest the entertainment industry by replacing both actors and set design in the upcoming decades, independent cinemas can champion authentic human films which grasp at the heart of what cinemagoers are longing for. These independent film scenes run far less risk of fostering sexual abuse in the way top-down hierarchical Hollywood production companies have in the past; namely Harvey Weinstein, whose abuse sparked much of the #MeToo movement. It’s tough not to become sentimental about cinemas and Hollywood. Stories of the ‘golden age’ and memories of our favourite films can enchant our senses away from remembering that it is, in fact, an industry; and a very cold and calculative one at that. With the rising costs of living combined with a loneliness epidemic plaguing the western world, perhaps our sights shouldn’t be set towards saving Hollywood, but instead towards each other. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Photo: howzey on Flickr CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 The post It’s the end of cinema as we know it… and I feel fine appeared first on Freedom News.

A POLITICAL ACTIVIST AND AWARD-WINNING SCIENCE FICTION AUTHOR, HE WAS ALSO A VISIONARY OF ALTERNATIVES TO CAPITALISM ~ Yavor Tarinski ~ Valentin Todorov, who passed away in Sofia on 22 September, leaves an immense legacy for the social and cultural movements in Bulgaria. He studied physics at Sofia University and completed MFA program in Film and Media Arts at Temple University, Philadelphia. In the second part of the 80s, before the fall of the totalitarian Communist regime in Bulgaria, and in the early 90s, he played an important role for the emerging sci-fi scene in the country, co-publishing the underground journal “Practice”, as well as authoring several books awarded for their originality and exploration of deep social meanings. In the said period, Todorov also wrote texts for hit songs by cult music bands of the time, like the rock band Ahat and the punk band Kontrol. He was a co-author of the first registered independent project for a Constitution of Bulgaria in 1990, right after the fall of the regime. From 1991 to 2012 he lived in the USA. There, he became active in the alter-globalisation movement and later in Occupy Tampa. In 2004 he co-founded Indymedia Bulgaria (unfortunately now defunct) and the website lifeaftercapitalism.info in 2009. When Todorov returned to Bulgaria, he continued to be politically active. He participated in the first self-organised community space in the country—the Adelante social centre in Sofia. He also participated in social and ecological movements in the 2010s, most notably the ones of 2013, when Todorov and Adelante activists managed to provoke a public assembly at the Eagles Bridge in the heart of the city. This took place for several consecutive weeks, gathering hundreds of protesters every day to discuss protest tactics and alternatives to the system, while blocking one of the most central traffic arteries of the country, a stone’s-throw away from the parliament. In 2013, his first feature film was released, Bulgaria, This Eternal Heresy. It is an eco-anarchist-utopian exploration of the deep-seated shortcomings of what currently dominates society and of what more humane and just alternatives might look like. Val Todorov’s exploration of anti-authoritarian ideals through various mediums not only inspired his generation of rebels, but also left a rich legacy for generations to come. He will be deeply missed, but never forgotten. The post Val Todorov (1963-2025) appeared first on Freedom News.

THE CO-PRODUCER OF THE LANDMARK DOCUMENTARY FILM REFLECTS ON ITS LEGACY AMID TODAY’S CHALLENGES ~ Joel Sucher ~ Anarchism in America is the title of a documentary produced way back in 1980; a time when the world was a far different place and the embers of the older strains of the movement —communist, individualist and syndicalist —were still alight. I was one of the producers of that documentary and was lucky enough to rub elbows with a variety of anarchists —Italians, Jews, Spaniards, Russians among others —who shared a common vision of a better world. They dreamed of a universal terrain without the shackles of authoritarian structures, governments and their corporate lackeys; churches, with their superstitions, and armed police to enforce the dictates of oligarchs and authoritarians.  The documentary was financed, ironically, by a liberal institution —National Endowment for the Humanities —established by Lyndon Johnson in 1965 when the idea of intellectual stimulation was still part and parcel of a democratic sensibility. Flawed, I’d reckon, because it was an ideal steeped in the belief of US exceptionalism. Propping up this notion these days has plunged America further down the bowels of a new dark age, replete with heaping helpings of stupidity, racism, white supremacy, hyper masculinity and racism. It’s a time for idiots to open mouths before engaging brains.  The original documentary was strung together with a questionable premise drawn from a 1978 book written by David DeLeon, titled The American as Anarchist, Reflections on Indigenous Radicalism. It postulated that there are those who explicitly tag themselves anarchists (like yours truly) but there are plenty more whose thinking embodies anti-authoritarian ideas without applying specific labels. Extended by DeLeon’s implication, these folks have inherited an anti-authoritarian DNA that’s become entwined and defined in the American character.  The film-makers The script was written by an old pal and comrade, Paul Berman, and was so good that for a few years the NEH staff waved it around as an example of what they would fund; that is, until Ronald Reagan became president in 1981. In the backwash of the election —presaging what’s happening today —the NEH staff bristling from the change in political sensibilities sheepishly asked us to take their names off the credits (we didn’t).  Well, many decades on I’m gazing through the looking glass and see the American-as-anarchist in a different guise: that is as a MAGA supporter. For instance, we interviewed an independent truck driver —“Lil John” —standing by his big rig and railing on about how government dos and don’ts had cut into his livelihood. “We’re not really independent because you talk about independent truck drivers and then you get into the political bureaucracy that run the United States government … mainly the rules and regulations. I mean, I don’t think a man in Washington, DC can dictate to me how to operate this truck, financially”. Touching a key point, he concluded “Just because you get elected to an office or you become a politician… don’t necessarily make you the big brother that’s got to oversee everything that’s under your domain … the people out there feel that they got to be the big brother, that we’re not smart enough down here to do our own thing”. Perhaps another fly in the American as anarchist ointment is the idea, espoused in the documentary by the late working-class anarchist poet, Philip Levine, about how Americans are “smart enough” to hate rules and conformity especially in places that have a sense of orderliness in their culture. “One of the things that struck me most when I went to Europe and lived there for a couple of years, was how fucking law abiding the people were, and how I broke all the laws. And I think I didn’t break the laws so much because I was an anarchist, it was just because I was an American. I mean, if I came to a traffic light, nobody was there. I went through the goddamn thing. It was just an attitude, you know, what’s the point of staying here? … I found that my European neighbors went crazy. stay in line, you know, it was sort of the stay in line, be this way, queue up in England, you know. And I’d say, fuck you, you know, the first one to the bus gets on, you know…. We are a people who are very smart, you know, that we got a lot of street smarts…I mean, we know what the law is all about. We know who made it and how it gets enforced. I mean, I think if you stop the average American say, what’s the law all about? Did God make it? He’d say, bullshit. He didn’t have anything to do with it.  John D Rockefeller made it”.  Interviewing CNT comrades In retrospect, this “truth” has embedded itself in the viscera of MAGA as a justification for releasing all that pent-up rage against the edicts of what they call the Washington swamp. Unfortunately, their goal is to create a new swamp overseen by a charismatic leader who has sold them a bill of goods about how he’ll make their lives better.  Obviously, as events in America unfold with deliberate shock and awe, it’s clear the confusion provides cover for rolling out a “brave new fascist world”. The blueprints are already out there (see my Covert Action piece on Curtis Yarvin). Anyone with even the slightest left of centre perspective will find themselves on hit lists with ambiguous outcomes. Handwriting is on the proverbial wall and the 2023 Cop City protests outside of Atlanta, where one activist was killed, provides more than enough evidence to highlight that the State has placed a target on the backs of the anti-authoritarian movement.  Will anarchists be the next group —after immigrants and pro-Palestinians —to be carted off? A definite possibility. You don’t have to be Nostradamus to guess what may be coming next. So, what to be done?  Well, mutual aid; that foundational anarchist theory-into-practice concept remains as alive and relevant today as it did and has given us the incentive —the power —to act in concert with like-minded folk for the benefit of our local communities. No need to wrap A’s in circles around our foreheads. It’s a demonstration of what is innate in the human character: an empathy that transcends greed and cruelty and one that infuses anarchist thought. Interviewing Mollie Steimer in Cuernavaca, Mexico Encouraging self-management in the small and medium business realm maintains credibility even now when Wall Street and its predatory banking buddies seek to control everything and anything.  Back in the day many of us were infatuated by the anarchist hue and cry, “don’t vote, it only encourages them”.  Times have changed severely and I, for one, believe that voting, primarily in local elections, where a vote counts for something—is an imperative that should be heeded. The old New England “town hall” ideal which we discussed in the documentary —gathering local citizens to discuss political affairs —remains a crucial exercise of power.  As the resistance starts to take root anarchists need to heed the pitfalls and traps set up in this new world of surveillance and AI. Welcome to “predictive policing” where science fiction meets science fact and where algorithms drive lead-generated police investigations. No longer are police gumshoes hiding in hotel rooms listening to bugs they have planted via crappy, old vacuum tube transmitters. The modern detective is fixed to a computer screen watching algorithms make —in essence —criminal predictions. We have turned a page; one Philip K Dick wrote about in his dystopian 1956 novel, Minority Report (later a compelling film starring Tom Cruise). The incompetent fools currently playing with the levers of US power take China as an example of how you can control an unruly population. It’s a true 1984 world where surveillance is translated into social control where, literally, points are deducted if you’re late to pay a bill or jaywalk; yes, it is a scheme to turn the population into good, obedient boys and girls. An awareness that you’re being watched needs to be just that and something that shouldn’t damp down activism. Having been involved in producing films like the 1970 documentary, Red Squad, I’m cognisant about the dangers posed by the surveillance State but there are plenty of counter-measures. Keep your circle of friends small (“affinity groups”, we used to call them); use secure platforms like Signal for communications and don’t invite all those you think may want to be on the down-low. If that means tamping down social media posts proclaiming support for Palestine, well, for the time being that should be considered. The other side will be monitoring and the threat is real. Anything is possible. I was born in a Displaced Persons camp outside of Lubeck, Germany, after the War and came over to the States and naturalised as a citizen. Could I, theoretically, be denaturalised? Sure. Anarchism, like the proverbial Seventh Wave, seems to engulf successive generations of young people eager to act on anti-authoritarian impulses and that’s a good thing, in my estimation, so long as they understand it’s a long-term commitment. It’s all too easy for the young kid waving around a black flag with an A in a circle to succumb to the seductive temptations of materialism, power-mongering and fame-whoring. While I believe that Anarchism in America is a deeply flawed film, I’d maintain that there are lessons to be learned and that after the authoritarians and capitalists melt down —which I’m sure they will —then anarchists can get back to the task of proffering the vision of a better world. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This article was originally published in the Summer 2025 issue of Freedom anarchist journal The post Is there a future for Anarchism in America? appeared first on Freedom News.